Page 14 of When Darkness Comes Knocking
My girl had great taste. Now that I knew she liked jewelry, I’d make sure to flood her with it. My feet beat her to the bottom stair. I held my hand out, and she took it, stepping off the last step.
“Thank you, handsome,” she complimented.
“No thank you is needed. Perrae, you look absolutely stunning. It’s been years since I’ve seen a woman this gorgeous,” I confessed sincerely. “These are for you.” I handed her the bouquet of red roses.
She grinned. “Thank you, my love. You clean up nicely yourself. I see you’re matching my fly in the jewelry department.” She giggled at her own statement.
I stepped further into her personal space. Her smile never faltered as I leaned in and placed my lips close to her earlobe again. “First, you smell absolutely divine. Secondly, all you have to do is give me the word, and I’ll match your fly forever.”
“Please don’t tempt me with a good time, Fortune. I might just choose forever with you.”
I stepped back and gazed into her eyes. “We better leave before I say something that’s way too soon. Come on, beautiful.”
Perrae chuckled and turned to her kids. “Okay, guys. I’m heading out. JJ, you’re in charge. Y’all all know the rules. Don’t answer or open that door for anybody. Nobody should be stopping by. If a problem arises, JJ, you know the drill, and you know where that thang is.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they all agreed in unison.
“Alright, babies. I love you all. See you all later on tonight.” She took her time and kissed each of them on the forehead.
I held my hand out, and she took it. We left her home and set off for our night together.
Chapter
Four
Perrae
“Tell me about Perrae,” Fortune voiced before sipping his wine. He’d brought me to a very upscale restaurant. It was so expensive that there were no prices on the menus. I pursed my lips to the side. Maybe I could get used to this bougie lifestyle.
“I wanna know about you first. You’ve witnessed so much in my life in this short time. Tell me who Fortune Makers is or was. I wanna hear whatever it is you want to share.”
He smiled and wiped the corners of his mouth with his cloth napkin. “Let’s see. I came from a loving two-parent household, but at the time, the streets had a hold on me.
“We lived in the projects. The south side of Chicago was fast paced, filled with money and addicts of all kinds. It was my playground.
“I played so long that I became the biggest plug in the city for drugs, weapons, betting, and most things illegal except human trafficking. That wasn’t my cup of tea. Madison’s mom, Lina, was by my side during it all.
“One day, my shit got raided. Some niggas turned on me, others stayed loyal. I was always watching my back, so the Fedsdidn’t have much on me. I served five years in the federal prison for illegal betting.
“The system I had in place was damn near impenetrable. I might’ve been from the streets, but I was smart as hell. When I was sentenced, Madison was about to be a year old. She's nine now.”
He exhaled and drank his wine. “Prison changed me for the better though. I did shit like read and educate myself. My desire to hustle left.
“I realized I needed to count my blessings and thank God for the second opportunity. That street life didn’t love me. It taught me more lessons than anything.
“My major takeaway was that shit could’ve been worse. I could’ve been shot up and killed, or I could’ve gone down for life. I made the right decision to change my ways.
“It was time I spent the remainder of my life raising Madison and giving that workforce life a real shot. When I was released, it was a few days after Madison’s fifth birthday. She’d gotten so big.
“I vowed to never leave her like that again. She was a girl, and girls needed their dads just as much as boys do. Afterwards, it was hard to get a job with my record.
“There were some resources I still had once I was released. They helped me to land a few construction jobs and taught me the trade. I completed a few jobs before I decided to go into business for myself. The rest has been history after that,” Fortune spewed.
“Now, you know me. Anything else you wanna know?”
I smirked and swallowed my forkful of food. “There is, but first, let me acknowledge how brave and intelligent you are. Most men would get out of jail or prison and go right back to what they know. Not you.
“You made a real courageous stance for yourself and your daughter, and that has to be applauded. I know it couldn’t have been easy, but you hung in there, and now you’re successful the legal way. Plus, you don’t have to look over your shoulder too much. I’m proud of you, Fortune.”
